A motorized vehicle often includes one or more vehicle component covers shaped to couple with components of the vehicle in order to increase an aesthetic quality of the components and/or reduce an amount of noise generated by the vehicle. An engine compartment of a vehicle, for example, may include a cover positioned to obscure one or more sections of the engine and/or to display a make and/or model of the engine to a viewer.
One example approach towards an engine cover is shown by Kondo et al. in U.S. Publication 2015/0075482. Therein, an engine cover has a cover body made of urethane foam, a skin layer disposed on a surface of the cover body, and an attachment member made of an elastic body and integrally molded with the cover body. The attachment member has a recess into which an attachment pin provided to project from an engine member is fitted.
However, the inventors herein have recognized potential issues with such systems. As one example, an engine cover such as the cover described by the '482 publication may not be configured to couple with components separately from the engine, such as an emblem displaying a make and/or model of the vehicle and/or engine. Often, an emblem is coupled to an engine cover via one or more fasteners such as bolts, increasing an assembly time and cost of the engine cover due to the increased amount of parts to couple the emblem to the engine cover.
In one example, the issues described above may be addressed by a vehicle component cover, comprising: a solid encasement including a plurality of passages; and a support structure embedded within the encasement and including a plurality of lock orifices, with each lock orifice of the plurality of lock orifices positioned to intersect a corresponding passage of the plurality of passages. In this way, the plurality of lock orifices is configured to couple in locking engagement with a separate component, such as an emblem of the vehicle.
As one example, the emblem includes a plurality of extensions arranged to slide through the plurality of lock orifices during conditions in which the emblem is coupled to the solid encasement. The extensions may slide through the plurality of lock orifices in a first direction and may not slide through the lock orifices in an opposite, second direction. In this way, the emblem is locked to the vehicle component cover and a position of the emblem relative to the solid encasement and support structure is maintained.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.